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jeep-upgrades.rst

Jeep Upgrades

Figuring out all ze upgrades ...

Parts List

Semi-finalized list of upgrades & parts. Work in progress.

Upgrade Parts Price ✓
Air Compressor MORE ARB CKMTA12 Mounting Kit $730 ✗
ARB Tire Inflation Kit $35 ✗
Body Upgrades Maximus-3 Stringer Bar $320 ✗
Xprite Eagle Eye Mesh Grille $160 ✓
Rugged Ridge Body Armor Kit $250 ✓
Sunluway Black Diamond Cowl Armor $22 ✓
Camera GoPro HERO4 BLACK $500 ✗
GoPro RAM Claw Mount $50 ✗
GoPro Handlebar/Seatpost Mount $20 ✗
Carryovers Pioneer AVH-4000NEX $600 ✓
Escort Passport 9500IX $500 ✓
Escort 9500ix Mirror Mount $35 ✓
Escort Direct Wire SmartCord $30 ✓
Communications Cobra 75WXST CB Radio $90 ✗
Cobra 75WXST Mounting Bracket $30 ✓
AUJ1 CB Fender Mount $24 ✗
Firestik II 2' Tunable Tip Antenna $17 ✓
Firestik Antenna Spring $13 ✓
Firestik K-4A Coax Terminal $7 ✓
9' RG58AU Cable with PL-259 Connectors $6 ✓
Interior Surprise Straps $100 ✓
Lift & Suspension     ✗
Lighting Oslamp 50" Curved Light Bar $310 ✗
Rough Country Upper Windshield LED Brackets $80 ✗
Rough Country Lower Windshield LED Brackets $25 ✗
Winching Gear Warn ZEON 10-S Winch $1250 ✗
Maximus-3 Zeon Winch Setup   ✗
Factor55 Hawse 1.5 Fairlead $100 ✗
Factor55 Prolink $150 ✗
Window Tint LLumar CTX (matched to factory tinting) $140 ✓

Local Shops

We've got lots of local 4x4/offroad shops. It's a big thing here.

Shop Contact Address Hours
A Touch of Shade
  1. 266-6852
 3609-12 Austin Bluffs Pkwy. Colorado Springs, CO 80918 M-F: 9AM - 6PM Sat: 9AM - 3PM Sun: Closed
Drive-In Audio Sound
  1. 597-8700
 4335 Integrity Center Point Colorado Springs, CO 80917 M-F: 9AM-7PM Sat: 9AM-6PM Sun: Closed
Predator 4WD (719) 528-5790 craig@predator4wd.com 4260 North Nevada Avenue Colorado Springs, CO 80907 M-F: 8AM-5PM Sat: Closed Sun: Closed
4Wheel Parts
  1. 591-9400
 1749 S. Academy Blvd Colorado Springs, CO 80916 M-F: 9AM-6PM Sat: 9AM-3PM Sun: Closed
Tanner 4-Wheel Drive (719) 475-8057 tanner4x4@msn.com 1920 East Pikes Peak Avenue Colorado Springs, CO 80909 M-F: 8AM - 6PM Sat: 8AM - 2PM Sun: Closed
R & R Off Road
  1. 465-4594
 3721 E. Pikes Peak Colorado Springs, CO 80909  

Online Shops

Online 4x4/offroad shops.

Products Shop Notes
OEM Mopar  
* ExtremeTerrain great prices, premium parts
Amazon the f'n wild west
Teraflex highend parts, expensive prices
GoRecon N/A
CarID various parts
AEV manufacturer site
ARB manufacturer site
Mountain Offroad jku arb twin compressor onboard mounting kit
Rugged Ridge manufacturer site
Rough Country manufacturer site
Lift & Suspension AEV  
MetalCloak  
Offroad Evolution  
ProComp  
Rancho  
RockKrawler  
RubiconExpress  
SkyJacker Suspensions  
Synergy  
TeraFlex  
TrailMaster  
Lights Hella Lights manufacturer site
JWSpeaker manufacturer site
KC Hilites manufacturer site
Headlight Upgrade manufacturer site
Winching Gear Warn highend winches
Factor55 highend synthetic winching components
Recovery Gear Tactical Recovery Equipment  
Grab Handles Surprise Straps highend, handmade paracord grab handles
CB Radio Right Channel Radios prebuilt mobile CB packages
Roof Racks BajaRack  
Tents TepuiTents expensive roof-top tents
Coolers Yeti Coolers  

Guides & Resources

Some sites & guides I've found helpful.

Research

Per-subject notes on various components and upgrades.

Air Compressor

Initially I wanted an onboard air compressor setup, for the following uses:

  • airing tires back up
  • with an ARB X-Jack for faster recovery
  • removing lugs with an impact wrench
  • inflating camping matresses

Note: My rubicon has the jeep OEM auto lockers, so unless I break it at some point and upgrade to ARB Air Lockers, it won't be used to power the lockers.

In general these are pretty light-weight activities.

Body Upgrades

Typically I prefer black-on-black body color with dark gray trim - however my wife really fell in love with the look of the white Hard Rock with black trim (the regular white rubicon was too much white though). So we ended up getting the Hard Rock (for several reasons, but this the included black trim was something my wife liked).

One of the inexpensive trim after market upgrades is to replace the white grill with a black after market grill - we looked at a couple different styles:

Out of these, she liked the Eagle Eye grill the best, so that's what we went with.

Stringer Bar

I purchased the Rubicon Hard Rock edition - so I already have steel bumpers on the front & rear.

Stinger bar notes:

  • safety (primary purpose)
    • primary purpose is to prevent the jeep from tipping forward during a roll over
    • a front rollover is the most hazardous type of rollover, commonly results in head injuries
    • if jeep rolls frontward down a steep slope, weight of vehicle is thrown forward while it pivots on front bumper
    • stinger bar causes jeep to roll to the side instead, resulting in a slower, less dangerous rollover
  • protection
    • prevents damage to the frontend due to collision, especially when being pushed or pulled
    • protects the grill, winch, and lights
  • utility
    • can also be used as a ramp when traversing large obstacles
    • can be used as a winch or toe strap anchor point in some situations
  • http://www.summitracing.com/parts/orf-83662/overview/

Camera

Carryovers

Stuff I already had from the truck.

I turned down the factory touchscreen/nav cause I had the Pioneer AVH-4000NEX. In retrospect, I shouldn't have - the 'reinstall cost' from Drive-In Audio Sound ended at $1100, after we had to install a second subwoofer under the driver seat (which limits how far down it can go), due to the proprietary factory wiring - and even after that, I still don't have an offline gps/maps solution (currently using apple maps, which requires celluar data).

Communications

On the first two trails I've been on, we've gone in and out of cellular service, making phones not a great option for reliable communications on the trail.

I dabble in Amateur Radio and initially I focused on using my BaoFeng BF-F8HP HT as a mobile unit in my jeep. The HAM Technician License allows you to transmit on 2m (144-148Mhz) and 70cm (430-450Mhz) - which (not coincidentally) is also the tuning for nearly all entry-level HAM Radios and commericially sold vehicle antennas on the market.

Doing some testing and research, I quickly discovered that:

  • Getting adequate performance in the vehicle requires a fair bit of knowledge about Antenna Theory.
  • For mobile applications, CB is much more common and popular than Amateur Radio.
  • When wheelin' with friends, having simple car-to-car communications for everyone in the group is a must.

It's not realistic to expect that everyone I'm going out wheelin' with will have an Amateur Radio License and a mobile setup (though it would be awesome). So unfortunately - having an easy, unlicensed communications solution is essential. On our initial trips out I had my HT with me (and was able to use this with a friend who also dabbles in Amateur Radio), however no one else in the group has any HAM equipment or training, so we instead ended up using a set of Motorolla Walkie Talkie's which were tuned to FRS (with 1/2W transmit power, as legally allowed by unlicensed users).

While the Walkie Talkie's are the easiest setup for car-to-car communications in a group they are are only useful for short-range, friendly communications in a 'convoy'. For emergency situations, they have extremely limited usefulness:

  • They only transmit on FRS, which isn't ideal for use in emergency situations.
  • The range is very limited (1/4 watt), which provides only very short-range communications.
  • As the group has scaled above 4 vehicles, having more units has become a requirement.

All these factors have pushed me towards viewing a CB radio as a primary requirement for my Jeep (with a mobile Amateur Radio) setup as a secondary requirement (long range communications for emergency situations - but this is outside the scope of what most people are going to be concerned with).

CB Radio

CB ends up being the ideal solution for (some) mobile communications (in my opinion) for several reasons:

  • It doesn't require a license, is inexpensive, and easy to setup.
  • It's very commonly used for mobile applications.
  • It has a much greater operating than Walkie Talkie's.
  • Units are available in very small, convenient form-factors, taking up little space.

CB radios operate in the HF 11m band between 26.965 and 27.405 Mhz. This range is broken into a set of 40 channels. An interesting thing about CB radio is that it supports SSB, though is is much less commonly used. SSB allows for high transmission power (12w) - and in combination with the enhanced modulation capabilities, this results is the capability for long-range communications - making CB much more useful in emergency situations.

Note

Since I'm already planning on having a proper mobile Amateur Radio setup, SSB on CB is not a requirement for my use-case. However for someone not interested in Amateur Radio, they may want look closer at a CB setup with SSB capabilities (specifically for it's usefulness in emergency situations).

One of the easiest solutions is available from Right Channel Radios as the Cobra 75WSXT JK CB Kit. I opted not to use this kit, because I didn't like the antenna mounting solution and I found a few of the components in the kit to be less than ideal.

Mounting the antenna on the back of the jeep is suboptimal for several reasons. Here are some good discussions on the subject:

With that information in mind, we have to balance the optimal with other factors. I'm not mounting the antenna in the center of the hood - and mounting it higher up on the vehicle (side of the hood vs. bumper) increases the overall height, which means I need a shorter antenna so it's not hitting every branch on the trail and I can still park it in the garage without hitting the ceiling.

I'm still really new to all this and haven't done performance comparisons - so I don't know for sure (and could definitely be wrong) - but it seems that a shorter antenna mounted on the side of the hood (less interference from the body) will hopefully outperform a longer antenna with a mostly obstructed line of sight mounted on the bumper.

Based on this, I built my solution around the following equipment:

HAM Radio

Still brainstorming on the long-range Amateur Radio setup.

Interior

Interior modifications.

Auxillary Switches

Need AUX switches for lights & such.

Lift & Suspension

Stock control arms or replacement adjustable control arms that mount to the same brackets are short arms. Long arms require the chassis end brackets to be removed and new ones welded on further away from the diff to cater for the 'longer' control arms. Benefits are smoother ride and easier articulation and generally used for higher lifts (4+ inch suspension lifts).

Lighting

Still working out the lighting details. Probably the setup will be:

The idea behind amber lighting is that, by removing blue from the light spectrum, we reduce the perceived glare from snow, rain, fog, and dust which results in better visibility.
Light Type Dimensions Pattern Lumens Temp Power Notes
ARB AR21F Intensity Flood Light LED 9.8x6.5x12 Flood 6950 6500K 74W  
ARB AR32F Intensity Flood Light LED 9.8x6.5x12 Flood 8200 6500K 90W  
Rigid Industries Dually Amber Floodlight LED 8x6x6 Flood 3260      
KC HiLiTES 151 Apollo Pro LED            
Oslamp 50" Curved Light Bar LED 50" Combo 48000
 
  • includes mounting brackets
  • pressure release valves
Oslamp 4" Spot Light LED 4" Spot 3000 6500K 18W
  • fisheye
Yatos 9" Intensity Knock Off LED 9" Combo 18500 6000K 185W  

Navigation

I opted out of the Jeep OEM Navigation 430N/RHB upgrade on the new JKU (6.5" LCD + Garmin Navigation) for two reasons:

  • I already have a Pioneer AVH-4000NEX headunit (Apple CarPlay headunit w/ 7" LCD from my previous vehicle)
  • The navigation service requires an expensive subscription to keep the GPS data updated

After the first two trail rides - I realized the issue with this is that both Apple Maps & Google Maps require a live cellular connection to download the map data, which frequently isn't available. This is a major problem

I'm currently testing out the AllTrails app.

Recovery Equipment

Window Tint

Winching Gear

Carplay

Audio Tuning

The AVH units have a pretty complex equalizer configuration.

Firmware Updating

There are definitely some bugs with the carplay software. There are several revisions to the headunit's firmware which help resolve them. Unfortunately updating the firmware is a little tedious and the instructions skip over several important details.

  • Updating the firmware using a USB Stick requires having an female adapter so you can plug the USBstick into an external USB cable, connected to the back of the unit.
  • You can update via an SDCard without a female USB adapter.
  • Any hidden/invisible files on the update media will cause the firmware update to fail.
  • The .zip archive needs to be extracted to the root of the update media (not mentioned in pioneer's instructions).

To update the firmware on the AVH-4000NEX (OSX):

  • Get an SDCard that can be reformatted, plug into OSX computer (adapter: Transcend USB 3.0 SDCard Reader)
  • Open DiskUtil and format SDCard
    • Name: AVHSD
    • Format: MS-DOS (FAT)
    • Scheme: Master Boot Record
  • Download the latest firmware package (from: Pioneer AVH-4000NEX)
  • Extract the folder from the .zip archive.
  • Copy the folder (unextracted) to the root of the update media.
  • Use the instructions below to remove all invisible files from the update media.
  • Turn the vehicle on
  • Insert the SDCard
  • Navigate to System Information -> Firmware Update & Continue
  • The headunit takes about 3-5 minutes to read the firmware, then prompts to reboot
  • After rebooting, the headunit will boot from the SDCard and update the firmware (takes about 5-10 minutes)

Remove invisible/hidden files from update media:

cd /Volumes/AVHSD
mdutil -i off .
rm -rf \.*
cd
diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk1
diskutil eject /dev/disk1

Parking Break Bypass

Headunits are required (by law) to disable in-dash video while the parking break is not engaged. This couldn't be more annoying. This prevents you from from:

  • Playing news w/ video using the headunit while driving (podcasts)
  • Playing videos for kids using the headunit while driving

Fortunately, it's pretty easy to bypass.

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